On average, online sellers are active on six different marketplaces. As 63 percent of consumers prefer marketplaces over brand sites, sellers need to make sure that their products are present there. However, selling on marketplaces comes with its own challenges as well.
These data come from the new Marketplace seller trends report 2025, from ChannelEngine. Between June and July this year, 470 online marketplace sellers were interviewed. Sellers from France, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States took part in the research.
67% sellers active on 4 or more marketplaces
A majority of sellers (67 percent) are active on at least 4 marketplaces. This makes managing product and pricing updates a challenge. The majority (62 percent) work with an integrator, but more than half (52 percent) also still rely on spreadsheets or other internal tools.
32% of marketplace sellers are focusing on increasing sales on marketplaces
When looking at priorities of marketplace sellers, most are focused on getting more from the channels they are already active on. For example, increasing sales (32 percent), boosting product visibility (31 percent) and improving profitability (27 percent).
Staying competitive on marketplace biggest challenge
According to the report, sellers spend 36 percent of their working week on average on manual tasks like updating listings, fixing errors or adjusting pricing. The biggest challenge when selling on marketplaces, is staying competitive on pricing and product visibility, for nearly a third of sellers (29 percent).
For 27% of online sellers, it is hard to keep up with changing marketplace requirements
However, there are more challenges, like keeping up with changing marketplace requirements (for 27 percent of sellers). Among those who spend more than half their time om manual operations, that share rises to 40 percent.
Barriers to join marketplaces
Even though most searches for products start on online marketplaces, some sellers are still reluctant to become active on more marketplaces. For 28 percent of sellers, economic uncertainty makes them reluctant to expand. And a complex technical setup makes more than a quarter of sellers (26 percent) reluctant to expand. Having better tools and integrators can help these sellers overcome their reluctancy.
